Helping People to Live Well for Longer

Aim

Replacing the portacabin is a space changer at the Canolfan that will change people's lives and help people to live well for longer.

Our fund raising experience has been  an amazing journey culminating in a community Ceilidh. Our Canolfan was full of great supporters.  Such is the support we have received that we are able to add a stretch target.

Along the way we have learnt that breaking our project down into manageable targets makes it more achievable and more attractive to potential funders. 

Remodelling the building and replacing the portacabin will free up space in the sports hall and our community activity room for more community activities, and much needed storage space.  To replace the portacabin we need to remove three shipping containers,  so the next stage of our project is creating more storage space.

This clears the way for a permanent structure that will be used by the most vulnerable is our community who have ill health; are recovering from medical interventions or have pre-existing or potential to develop life changing poor health conditions. and a space for wellness activities that work well in a warm and functional space such as Yoga, Pilates, Tai chi, Dance etc.

What we do at the Canolfan

The project is in two phases

Phase one is to remodel the team changing rooms to provide two unisex shower and changing cubicles, two treatment rooms and one consulting room for health and wellness practitioners. The return on investment of this phase is 6 years providing additional funds after this time for further improvements.

Phase two is extending the storage room to replace three temporary storage crates and replacement of the portacabin with permanent structures.

Within this permanent structure will be a National Exercise Referral Gym, and a fitness room for wellness activities such as pilates, Yoga Tai-chi, mindfulness, meditation and other wellbeing classes

Samantha Williams Jones supports people in our community who are referred to her by a GP through the National Exercise Referral Scheme. Sam was a finalist in the UK Sports Community Coach of the year awards in 2020 and is a much loved health and fitness professional who works in the most unlikely space and delivers miracles.

Delivering these classes in a bespoke space will save on energy costs and free up space in the Sports Hall to be used for more larger group exercise classes which are currently oversubscribed because of Sam’s great work.

Sports activities, such as table tennis, badminton, football, netball and the growing sport of pickleball will then have more space in the main sports hall to increase participation. Many of our sessions are intergenerational, such as football,

and netball.

There will be more space for children to be active from where we provide children’s day camps during school closure periods at an affordable price for local families.

The replacement of the portacabin will also free up space in our community room, known affectionately as the ‘gallery’ where people living alone and in isolation can meet up with others from in the community in a warm welcome space and do something creative or learn something new.

Here we show you one of the amazing things they have created.

Who are we

Canolfan Hamdden Beaumaris a’r Cylch, known locally as the Canolfan, is a former local authority leisure centre which when faced with closure in 2011 was adopted by the local community.

It is now a social enterprise and a registered charity run by the community for the community that provides a wide range of activities and services for the benefit of people living in South East Anglesey particularly the Seiriol area, a rural and coastal community.

Our people

All our Directors are volunteers living in the local community and we have over 50 other volunteers supporting the Social Enterprise in a variety of ways. Catering at community events, gardening keeping our grounds tidy, marshalling key fundraising events like the runfest held every year, helping at reception, with accounts, marketing, setting up for events in the sports hall and drivers for the community transport that operates from the Canolfan.

We have a great staff team that is growing as the Canolfan grows giving direct employment for 12 local people.

Six fitness instructors who hire the space to deliver classes such as yoga, pilates, Tai chi,roller skating and skate boarding, we also have many sports coaches most of whom are volunteers.

We are also working with a number of holistic and wellness practitioners providing a space for health interventions to negate the need to travel distances for such services at a time when the local transport services are reducing. These professionals are working out of one consulting room, which we have plans to increase to three in the coming year as demand is increasing.

Monitoring of our footfall shows a consistently upward trend of 98,500 visits in the last twelve months.

How do we know our project is needed

We have liaised directly with each community venue in the Seiriol area and with the Seiriol Alliance during our consultation. Our project is designed to support the six Seiriol Alliance priorities and to provide additional opportunities for our community and enhance rather than compete with activities going on in other venues. Being part of the Seiriol Alliance ensures that we will continue to work together, share information and collaborate on community activities.

The Board of Directors reviewed its strategic plan during the pandemic and released its draft Community Well-being Plan for comment at the AGM in February 2021 and committed to undertake an extensive community consultation.

The plan is aligned to the Well-being of future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

The consultation started with a Family Open day in September 21 and concluded in May 2022 and included:

· A community online questionnaire via social media

· A pin board in reception for members.

· Promotion and awareness of our campaign

· Two drop in sessions

· Half hour zoom sessions with the four community councils in the Seirol Area and Beaumaris Town Council.

· Focus groups with various community groups representing sections of our community including

- Local Business Groups

- Local Sporting Organisation

- Entertainment and Arts Groups

- Scouts and Guides Associations

- Other Community Groups

· Hosted visit to the centre for young people

· A face to face survey of young people in Beaumaris Town.

· A young peoples online questionnaire

· Minuted discussions at Seiriol Alliance meetings on 23/11/21 and 6/4/22

Over 600 people and 30 local organisations gave feedback

The community told us that they would value

· a greater variety of activities across the age ranges that are linked to improved well-being, focusing particularly on children, young people, working adults and disadvantaged groups.

· to be able to attend the centre as a family and engage in community activities that cater for all ages.

· increased availability of library facilities

· a ‘business and information hub’ for the Seiriol area to include a jobs club, office space, IT facilities, training and learning opportunities

· the Canolfan expanding its role in bringing the Seiriol communities together, working collaboratively and collectively with other community hubs to avoid duplication and help make better use of shared and limited resources.

· improved theatre and related facilities to support large events put on by local organisations.

We are already stretched to provide the activities and services we currently provide due to lack of space and facilities. We envisage that meeting our community’s aspirations will positively impact on the six core priorities identified by the Seiriol Alliance, especially health and wellbeing, communication and information sharing, and community activities

Who do we work with

We have strong links with local statutory services including the Health Board and the Sports Development Unit of the Isle of Anglesey Local Authority, Môn Activ. The Health Board has previously used the one consulting room to provide podiatry services and our main Canolfan building for physiotherapy-led exercise regimes. Môn Actif supports our delivery of the National Exercise Referral Scheme. Both organisations recognise the limitations of our current facilities and strongly support our project as this will enable them to provide more and improved health and exercise related activities for the Seiriol area.

We also partner with and offer corporate membership to local outdoor sports clubs, Beaumaris Rowing Club and Beaumaris Town runners who use our facilities out of season.

We know we have community support

In 2017 we ran a community fundraiser, raising sufficient funds to install solar panels on the building. This investment from our community was paid back in full, with interest, and has saved considerably on energy costs.

There are over nine hundred members of the Canolfan, with many other occasional users from a population of 6000. With their support we have managed to accumulate designated funds of over £100,000 to go towards this project. A significant part of which is being used for phase one. 

We have a monthly Bonus Ball, with members paying £5 per month by direct debits, which has raised over £45,000 since it was started.

We have local artists displaying their works with 50% of all sales donated to the Canolfan.

Many local businesses donate to say thank you for what we do and we want to thank all those local businesses who have provided many prizes for our monthly Bingo night, which so far has raised over £1200.

Planning permission is already in place for the changes thanks to a £50,000 grant from the National Lottery.

Read some of our people stories and listen to Mark

Statements from people Sam and the Canolfan has helped.

Project costs

The cost of phase one is £150,000 funding for phase one is almost secured. We are in the process of compiling an application to the National Lottery to match fund the £75,000 already raised. 

This crowdfunding is the start of our fundraising campaign for phase 2 to demonstrate to potential funders that there is community support for this project 

Rewards

We are offering a number of rewards in return for a donation. The rewards are designed to attract members of our community to use the Canolfan for the first time or make it affordable for some families to use the Canolfan more often than they do now.

Please help us to improve our Community Hub

Beaumaris, Isle of Anglesey, United Kingdom

This project successfully funded on 10th March 2026